Lackawanna County commissioners approve payables, grant awards and contracts; board seeks state help for regional juvenile detention center

The Lackawanna County Board of Commissioners on June 3 approved a slate of fiscal and contract items ranging from payables to provider agreements and infrastructure grants.

The board authorized approval of current payables including general-fund checks (range noted in meeting documents) and electronic fund transfers; county staff said many items listed as “open” in the backup had since been reconciled and audited by the controller’s office.

Among the measures adopted: a Community Development Block Grant–funded construction contract for Sarah Brady Park in the Borough of Jessup (awarded to Waco, Inc.; contract amount $71,333.16) to complete Americans with Disabilities Act accessibility improvements; the board also approved the first round of the 2026 Community Reinvest program, releasing $100,000 in $5,000 awards across 20 local projects.

Human-services items included new and renewed provider contracts for the Office of Youth and Family Services (including a pediatric specialty-care contract and new foster-care and group-home agreements) and professional-service renewals for mediation, CASA, counseling and family-engagement services. Director Carrie Browning told commissioners those provider rates are typically reimbursed about 80% by the state.

The board approved detention-center renewals with Chester County ($741 per day) and Jefferson County ($250 per day) and discussed reasons for rate differences. Commissioners also ratified a purchase for the Emergency Management Agency: a Drager Exite live wireless hazard-area monitoring system at a cost of $23,886 to support large events and emergency response.

Behavioral-health allocations for FY 2026–27 were presented by Director Mickey Dushel: a behavioral-health budget of $9,786,319 (55% of the program budget), intellectual and developmental disability services at $5,256,654 (29%), and early-intervention funds at $2,915,755 (16%). Dushel said those funds support housing, crisis services and case management but that provider waitlists and staffing shortages limit the creation of new programs.

Workforce Development Board grants were approved for two youth programs: a two-day entrepreneurial camp (Aug. 4–5) for 30 intermediate students and a career-quest summer camp (June 29–July 2) for 90 Scranton School District students; both are fully grant funded.

The board accepted a one-year agreement with Granicus for agenda and records-management services ($43,460) and ratified an invoice for the department of emergency services to purchase a Drager monitoring system ($23,886).

On justice-system planning, commissioners authorized a letter to the Pennsylvania General Assembly requesting $5 million in state capital funding toward a proposed regional juvenile detention center, part of a five-county collaborative seeking $25 million total to address a shortage of juvenile detention beds after the county center closed in 2018–19.

All listed resolutions and contracts were approved by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.